Did a quick 15 or so miles this weekend...my ass is killing me adjusting to the new saddle.

overall, I love it.

the ride itself is a bit rough compared to the old ride, tires are thinner and more road oriented but that's a small adjust I need to make.

You know, I never did get around to asking why you don't just take the saddle from your old bike, and transplant it to your new bike?

Also, as far as the "bit rough" comparison, you are now riding an aluminum frame rather than steel. While aluminum is more rigid, I love the "sporty" bare bones type feel you get with it. Steel is amazing, don't get me wrong (and so is carbon, as I am learning) but alum. just feels peppy if that makes any sense.

As the days go on, I get more and more interested in belt drive bikes. I have a "Motobecane Le Champion" sitting around the basement just waiting to get repainted and built up. Got a decent cane creek headset and an okay FSR full carbon fork for it. Now all I need is EVERYTHING else But I have been doing a little research on belt driven internal 3 and 5 hubs, and that just sounds like a really cool thing to do with this frame. I mean, I work at a bike shop now..so while I'm not going to go full on with it, I do want to build up one really cool bike for this summer.

If you wouldn't mind, rzero, keeping me/us all posted on any issues that come up (mainly wondering about belt wear) it would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and Epic, here is what I was talking about a few days ago. You know, about not worrying about making me want yet another bike...Here is the basement of our shop. This is just the MTN. and TriCross side. There is a mirror side of road and "comfort/commuter" bikes. I wants them all. So much cool shit laying around. While the pay isn't the greatest, I am an heaven. Such a cool job.

Oh, and Epic, here is what I was talking about a few days ago. You know, about not worrying about making me want yet another bike...Here is the basement of our shop. This is just the MTN. and TriCross side. There is a mirror side of road and "comfort/commuter" bikes. I wants them all. So much cool shit laying around. While the pay isn't the greatest, I am an heaven. Such a cool job.

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's why I never got a job at a place I like and get a discount at their stuff. I wouldn't know how to turn the other direction. Although looking at that place, it looks like you could walk away with a bike pretty easily

Well, except for the fact that they're probably betting on that and have cameras set up everywhere. Pretty sweet that you were able to get the commission on working on your bike though. That's kind of funny.

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's why I never got a job at a place I like and get a discount at their stuff. I wouldn't know how to turn the other direction. Although looking at that place, it looks like you could walk away with a bike pretty easily

Yeeeaaahhh...we have a few bikes in our stock that are just bad-farking-ass. Although, my current project isn't a new bike, it's to take a frame I currently have and build it up to be a mean commuting slayer.

I went and got my hopes up without thinking. Went and priced out and sourced everything I would need for a belt driven 8 speed internal hub, and totally forgot I can't convert my bike to belt. There is no inlet for the belt to get around the frame. Not only do I feel like a fool for forgetting this fact, but my bubble is totally burst... :( Now to rethink this entire project. I really wanted an internal hub, but if it's going to be chain I think I might go with a normal cassette. I dunno. Maybe with the few dollars I will save with not being belt drive, I could dump into the wheel set and get something REAL sexy in carbon...who knows.

Oh, and our spring sale at the shop is going to shit. Crappy weather forecasted for the next few days. It was DEAD today. We sold 3 bikes for the day. Just pathetic. Really hope things pick up next week, I wants those monies!!!

I don't think you're going to have an issue selling bikes once the weather warms up.

Oh, riding back from the grocery store I had a little surprise. Just as I was closing in on home I hear a pop pop crack.. rear brake cable. Lucky I practice my panic stops, right? :) We're forecasted to have some heavy downpours until the end of the month, so I won't be missing out too much while I'm replacing the cable.

I don't think you're going to have an issue selling bikes once the weather warms up.

Not at all, our shop does a TON of business in the warm months here. But honestly, if it's not sunny people don't shop around for bikes here. It was raining for most of my shift today though, and when it comes down to it, we all would rather people didn't come in for test rides when it's wet out. Real pain in the ass for the service/mech. dudes. Mix that with me working both sales and mech. every shift, it just adds to our work load.

It's just we are in "full swing" of our Spring Sale event, where our store is kind of expected to have really high numbers. For instance, in years past, the store averaged around 30-50 grand a day during the Spring Sale. Hell, I have heard of days they did over 60k in sales/service in one day. Today we apparently did around 20 thousand. Just a bummer and since we all work on commission, even more of a bummer.

Originally posted by LittleShooey

Oh, riding back from the grocery store I had a little surprise. Just as I was closing in on home I hear a pop pop crack.. rear brake cable. Lucky I practice my panic stops, right? :) We're forecasted to have some heavy downpours until the end of the month, so I won't be missing out too much while I'm replacing the cable.

That's an easy and cheap fix girl! What kind of brake system do you run? When it comes down to it you really only need a front break on a bike.

So Im doing a half iron man this summer and Im debating on tri bars. Im riding my dads trek from like 1990. its an all aluminum roda bike so I definitely not having to buy one but ive been told tri bars help a alot. does anyone have any recommendations

I've got 2 bikes. A Giant (it's a Taiwanese company) road bike which is very light and fast although the brakes don't work too well. I got it mega cheap to. I also have a mountain bike. I think it's either a trek or a mongoose

So Im doing a half iron man this summer and Im debating on tri bars. Im
riding my dads trek from like 1990. its an all aluminum roda bike so I
definitely not having to buy one but ive been told tri bars help a alot.
does anyone have any recommendations

Sooo...1/2 ironman bike segment is what..around 55 miles or something like that?

Yeah, I would get some tri bars. Anything made by Profile or Easton are top notch choices, and both companies offer budget options. I wouldn't get the ones that incorporate shifting into the bars though. You can save a lot of money there. What kind of bike is it? What components are on it? How is the wheel set? Wheels and rubber are usually the first things I upgrade on all my bikes. A deep V Velocity set would probably be my first suggestion for wheels. They make a damn fine wheel, at a good price. The deep V will help a little with wind resistance, and if you have old steel wheels, upgrading will help a little with your spin resistance.

Originally posted by Weymaro

I've got 2 bikes. A Giant (it's a Taiwanese company) road bike which is
very light and fast although the brakes don't work too well. I got it
mega cheap to. I also have a mountain bike. I think it's either a trek
or a mongoose

What type of Giant is it? How much ya pay? Brakes are an easy, cheap fix. Takes 30 minutes top even if you have to replace housing, cables, or even tension springs.

Same goes for the MTN. bike. What cha got! You kids are killing me with just saying who the maker is, but not the model!

I'll have to get more details on it. All he said was he was mt. biking (more than likely on a trail knowing him) and hit a cable. I'm pretty sure he was riding at in the evening (at least while it was getting dark) cause he said he went to the ER at midnight.

Dude is one of my heros. He's been a semi-pro skater for years, he's good at wake/snowboarding, plays hockey, rides mt. bikes, and lives life to the fullest. With this latest accident he's now had over 500 stitches (lifetime) and he'll be getting plastic surgery (not like rich bitch surgery, but something to try and fix his face).

I got a 30 mile ride yesterday at a pretty easy pace, but it was totally flat and averaged about 18 miles/hour. One of my biking buddies was trying to keep his heart rate down, so he was keeping the pace.

Got another 15 mile ride in today. That one was high intensity with some hills and some weight. I was pulling my two kids in the trailer to a park about 7.5 miles away, rest, and then back. The hills and the wind were that much harder pulling 80-90 lbs behind my bike.

I have them trained to say "GO MOMMY GO! GO MOMMY GO!" when we're going uphill or into the wind. It may annoy other bikers and runners, but it is cute and sometimes it helps me...

I have them trained to say "GO MOMMY GO! GO MOMMY GO!" when we're going uphill or into the wind. It may annoy other bikers and runners, but it is cute and sometimes it helps me...

Hella cute! Other riders are just jealous they don't have an awesome on the go support team like you do.

So I'm working on a graduated diamond [90% black -> white] pattern for my frame. It's a little crazy and hella time consuming, but it's a nice break from the homework and home stuff. Here's my rough sketch:

In progress. Only some of the outer diamonds for now. Planning and keeping everything square was a mini nightmare. Pattern will extend up a majority of the seat tube, and maybe halfway up the downtube (fully graduated), I'll just have to see how it looks Oh, script reads "Panasonic", was looking for something kinda 80s that would contrast nicely with the diamonds.

I expect the answer to this to be no.
However, I will go ahead and ask.

Are there any bike trainers compatible with knobby tires?
(ie you don't have to switch out your back tire for a slick).

Any trainer will be compatible, if you will. As in, you will be able to ride a knobby on it, and things will spin, and miles will tally up, and sweat will pour......but tread will fly. I know it can suck having to swap out a tire every time you want to train. Add to that the price of said "slick". But it is well worth it. Best route would be to just go to your local bike store, tell them the situation, and ask for the cheapest non-knobby road tire for a mtn. bike they have. If you don't already know how to change a flat/tire, now is a great time to learn!.

But really, if you ride a knobby on a trainer, expect that tire to experience failure around the 100 mile mark. Oh, and it will be loud/bumpy as hell....

Oh, and Shooey, what are you using to apply the pattern to the frame? looks great by the way. Lovin the throw back script for the Panasonic logo. Keep at it. Doing patterns like that on a rounded surface sucks. Been there, done it, wanted to quit on it every half hour. Keep at it girl!

Can't wait for the final product.

Starting a build myself right now...As I stated in an above post, I have a Motobecane LeChampion (2008 I think. A few years after their last good frame) frame to work with. It originally was a chrome finish, with red badges. Stripped it down to bare metal, put a few thick layers of black down to fill in any small scratches/surface imperfections. That/here is where I stand....

It came with a full carbon FSA areo fork, and a cane creek head set. The fork is okay. Not the best, but it's light as hell, durable, and came "free" with the bike. Head set is decent, about mid level in its family.

Head Set.

And there is where I stand. Going to try and get the frame prepped for color by this weekend. There is about another hour or so of sanding left on the frame. Not totally sure what direction I want to go color wise, but I do want to re-use the free hand design I used on my Allez (black and teal bike I have posted before. My primary bike). I have always wanted to do this cloud/psychedelic pattern with free hand laid over it. Thinking darker colors, black. dark orange, crimson for the cloud pattern, then black overlay. We will see.

As for components, I think I am either going to do full campy and skimp on the wheel set, or mid level SRAM, and get a set of deep dish ZIPP's for a wheel set. Can't do a belt drive as I wanted too (I still can't believe I thought I could ) So might go with a 9 speed chain driven. Oh, and top everything off with red or orange anodized accents where I can (bolts, pulleys, nipples, and so on) . Can't wait for 2 weeks from now! I will finally have the money to get started on sourcing all the parts!

Oh, and Shooey, what are you using to apply the pattern to the frame? looks great by the way. Lovin the throw back script for the Panasonic logo. Keep at it. Doing patterns like that on a rounded surface sucks. Been there, done it, wanted to quit on it every half hour. Keep at it girl!

Thanks,

It's ink! Sharpie to be exact. All those lines are freehand, no masking. The original plan was to do paint and tape. The graduated black fill was going to make taping a disaster I'd be hell bent on perfecting, why not just do it by hand?

A decent math background and a protractor made starting a little easier but holy hell does it keep you on your toes. I've quit three or four times already, you know what I mean.

I like the cloud idea. Makes me think of this. It's going to be exciting once the components start rolling in!

You can do a belt drive, just cut into the food budget! Who needs food!?

Count wise? It is constantly rotating. But yes, this will make four....for now. Sold some, picked up a random shitty mtn. bike...so on and so on.

As for that link, that isn't far off from what I was thinking. You'll see, kind of hard to explain what it will look like other than with pictures...

Oh, and I can't do a belt drive with this frame. The belts are solid, just like a cars. You need a gap in the rear triangle to pass the belt through. No way in hell I am going to cut this frame up and try to make my own, hahaha. It's cool. I'm over it. One day I'll find a belt drive frame on the cheap. One day.

For now, I think I sold myself on decking the bike out with SRAM Red series components.

Originally posted by LittleShooey

Also: Do the deep dishes.

Why did you prime with black? Powdercoating or spray canning? With a can the black will just suck the life out of any colors on top of it.

______

Off topic, but I don't want to start a new post.

I just weighed my "resistance bike", 41 lbs on the dot! Beat that!

Yeah, like I said above with the SRAM choice, Deep Vs will be the way to go. Almost want to see if I can get a "Spinergy" wheel for the rear. Think that would look sick.

I went with black for that exact reason you stated. I want any color I put on it to have the life sucked out of it. I don't want any sharp, vibrant colors on the frame, just little accents on the components. That way it will keep the "in your face" level down on the colors I use for the frame.

Also, a very large chunk of that black will be gone before I put my color coats on. I have a very thought out method for this paint job. You'll see (Oh, and rattle cans all the way! :)

Oh, and 41 lbs!!? Oh shit! I just can't beat that at all. That is insanely heavy

Maybe I'll ride to work today and weigh my bike there. I forget what it is running, but I think around the 23 range..

Rear view so you can see it better. Dude had an internal three hub, and a 9 speed chained cassette. Two rear derailleurs. Basically what it does is replace a three front chain ring, and puts it into an internal hub. You have two shifters on the right hand. He had the 9 speed on a "grip shift", and the three internal on a thumb leaver directly below the grip shift. Rode it around for a little bit. Kinda cool, but much prefer just a double up front. It also made a pretty crazy sound. Two cassettes clicking at different pitches slightly off sync from each other.

I didn't even think about what infrastructure was needed for a belt. New territory. Speaking of new territory, I don't think I'd be a big fan of the dual rear shifters, either!

20lbs would be a dream. Not that I really care, the bike (read: BSO) I'm on now is making me hella strong. With this custom I'm building, what blew me away was that the frame only weighed as much as the (1980s) crank set. That was my mind=blown moment as I was stripping it down. Shooting for about 25 with bags and full gear.

I'll have to get more details on it. All he said was he was mt. biking (more than likely on a trail knowing him) and hit a cable. I'm pretty sure he was riding at in the evening (at least while it was getting dark) cause he said he went to the ER at midnight.

Dude is one of my heros. He's been a semi-pro skater for years, he's good at wake/snowboarding, plays hockey, rides mt. bikes, and lives life to the fullest. With this latest accident he's now had over 500 stitches (lifetime) and he'll be getting plastic surgery (not like rich bitch surgery, but something to try and fix his face).

Nice detail Shooey! I cannot imagine having the creativity to do that! Keep at it.

Thanks!

I did myself in today though. I was about three miles out and I thought my rear derailleur was having some troubles. We pulled into a parking lot did a few laps and right then and there my rear hub just started blowing out bearings. Oh hell. The walk of shame, man.

Not too worried about the replacement/repair costs, it just sucks to be bikeless. Well, technically bikeless. I took hubby's Specialized out to run errands later in the day. Smooth riding, easy shifting, life is looking up. I get ready to head back home and, well shit. Chain's off the front ring. What am I doing wrong!? Popped it back on, rode home.

Strange day, I gotta get that roadie going so I can break that one too!

I did myself in today though. I was about three miles out and I thought my rear derailleur was having some troubles. We pulled into a parking lot did a few laps and right then and there my rear hub just started blowing out bearings. Oh hell. The walk of shame, man.

Not too worried about the replacement/repair costs, it just sucks to be bikeless. Well, technically bikeless. I took hubby's Specialized out to run errands later in the day. Smooth riding, easy shifting, life is looking up. I get ready to head back home and, well shit. Chain's off the front ring. What am I doing wrong!? Popped it back on, rode home.

Strange day, I gotta get that roadie going so I can break that one too!

That sucks about your hub dude. But you are right, at least it's a reasonably cheap fix.

As for the hubby's bike, and the chain falling off. Sounds like the limits on the front are out of wack. Easy fix (as long as you know what you are doing) but really...it's pretty simple. Give a shout if you need some help figuring it out.

For the chain, there's a half chance that a batch of kids coming out of the high school gave it a yank too. It just... undid itself while it was parked. BMX'ers. No shifting/loosening issues on the ride.

For the chain, there's a half chance that a batch of kids coming out of the high school gave it a yank too. It just... undid itself while it was parked. BMX'ers. No shifting/loosening issues on the ride.

Thanks for the support!

Beemer? Word, never heard that one before..

That sucks that someone probably pulled your chain off. I would blame the bmx'ers too. What kind of specialized is it? That's good you didn't have any issues while riding.

woodhomie: I will also throw out a thanks for rocking a brake. :) Can't stand all the kids in my town that don't. Then they hit a car or person or another rider and it makes the rest of us look bad.

Soooo...I think I may have pulled the trigger on yet another road bike today. Honestly, I am not even sure how it happened. Had some friends over, one was talking about how he wants to sell his bike...next thing I knew I was handing him dollars. Damn being hungover, then drinking mimosas! I think I have a problem. I need help.

It's cool, I think I am just going to ride it this week, then sell it to a friend when he gets paid next Friday. I'll load some pics up later, it still is a pretty cool old steel frame, with modern components.

New bike. Pretty cool little whip. It's a Austro-Daimler A-D, which was the higher end model of their line back in the late 70's. The friend I bought it from did a decent amount of upgrades to it. New wheel set, took off the frame mounted shifting to shimano Tiagra paddle lever shifting, Tiagra brakes, and a low-mid range FSA crank arms. The result is a fairly solid little bike with modern drive train and braking. The thing rides like a dream. Very smooth steel, fast shifting. Although the frame is a tad small for me, but as I mentioned in my above post, I don't think I am going to keep this one. I have a friend that wants to get into biking, and ride with my crew, so going to sell it to him (hopefully by next friday) but totally going to ride the piss out of this thing while it's still mine.

My almost finished Specialized Rockhopper Single speed I have a shorter stem coming in and shorter cranks

Rock on man. I see you have a pretty "slick" tire on there. Mainly just ride it on the street then? I think it would be fun to have a flip-flop hub on a mtn. bike. Single speed is cool though, you should use that thing for some trail riding sometime.

Soooo...I think I may have pulled the trigger on yet another road bike today. Honestly, I am not even sure how it happened. Had some friends over, one was talking about how he wants to sell his bike...next thing I knew I was handing him dollars. Damn being hungover, then drinking mimosas! I think I have a problem. I need help.

It's cool, I think I am just going to ride it this week, then sell it to a friend when he gets paid next Friday. I'll load some pics up later, it still is a pretty cool old steel frame, with modern components.

I think you've officially lost it, although if I knew more about bikes, that'd be a great business here in Portland. Bikes are always going for much more than they're worth. I have two bikes to sell right now, but got to strip it first. Want to take all the good parts and put it on the new bike.

I think you've officially lost it, although if I knew more about bikes, that'd be a great business here in Portland. Bikes are always going for much more than they're worth. I have two bikes to sell right now, but got to strip it first. Want to take all the good parts and put it on the new bike.

I dunno about lost it. Having a problem, yes. But probably not lost it Also not really making any money off selling it to a friend. 15 bucks is what I think I will take out of it. Kid just really wants a bike, other friend had a few offers already on it, so I jumped on it. Actually, it's turning out to be a great way to save money. If I wouldn't of done this for my friend, I would of spent close to 400 bucks on new parts for a frame I still have yet to paint. What good does that do for me? Hahah.

On a side note, had to break down and buy a new tire for my daily. I decided I should stop riding a tire with cord showing. You never know when that could blow out, and I usually ride like an asshole (with no tools or supplies to fix/change a flat) anyways. Great example I am setting working at a bike shop, eh? Not bad though, another 58% sale strikes again

i just learned how to repair a tube in my mountain bike's tire today. Ohhhh yea. I thought yall would be impressed haha. I can't even imagine what it would be like on a road bike. Than again, i'm definitely not an expert.

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